F.B.I. and U.S. officials urge police chiefs to be prepared and share intelligence.
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F.B.I. and U.S. officials urge police chiefs to be prepared and share intelligence.
Federal officials warned police chiefs in major cities during a call on Wednesday to be on high alert and generous with intelligence as police departments around the country ramped up preparations for the week leading into the inauguration.
In a roughly 45-minute call, Christopher Wray, the F.B.I. director, and Kenneth Cuccinelli, the acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, expressed great concern about the potential for extremist violence, according to participants. Failing to identify any specific threats, the officials called on law enforcement officers across the country to watch for signs of trouble.
Mr. Wray said that “we need to continue to overshare intelligence,” Chief Jorge Colina of the Miami Police Department said in an interview. “So they don’t want for us to assume anything that they already know — anything that we come across to please forward it.”
The officials said they would be issuing a national threat bulletin urging all Americans to be cautious in the coming days, according to a police chief who listened to the call but requested anonymity because they were asked not to share details of the call.
With the U.S. Capitol fortified by an intensive security operation, the officials seemed concerned about potential attacks on state capitols, federal buildings, the homes of congressional members and businesses, the chief said.
Federal officials said they were closely monitoring extremist chatter online and urged the chiefs to be mindful of potential lone-wolf actors and local armed groups, the chief said.
“They’re very, very worried about these, what they referred to as domestic violent extremists, embedding themselves in other protests,” the chief said. “Christopher Wray seemed particularly concerned about what was sort of the disregard these folks have for democratic government. The focus was not to go after people engaged in peaceful protest. There were others embedded in that who were engaged in violence and criminal behavior.”
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And in a related story...
Federal authorities warn that the Capitol breach will be a ‘significant driver of violence.’
The deadly breach at the Capitol last week will be a “significant driver of violence” for armed militia groups and racist extremists who are targeting the presidential inauguration next week, according to a joint intelligence bulletin issued by federal authorities.
The “boogaloo,” a movement that seeks to start a second civil war, and extremists aiming to trigger a race war “may exploit the aftermath of the Capitol breach by conducting attacks to destabilize and force a climactic conflict in the United States,” according to the bulletin issued by the National Counterterrorism Center and the Justice and Homeland Security Departments, which was disseminated widely to law enforcement agencies across the country.
The federal agencies single out the boogaloo movement, saying members are likely to exploit violence at the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C.
The bulletin, dated January 13, is labeled “Domestic Violent Extremists Emboldened in Aftermath of Capitol Breach, Elevated Domestic Terrorism Threat of Violence Likely Amid Political Transitions and Beyond.” Antigovernment militias and racists extremists “very likely pose the greatest domestic terrorism threats in 2021,” the agencies said.
The federal officials wrote that extremist groups have viewed the breach of the Capitol as a success and have been galvanized by the death of Ashli Babbitt, a QAnon follower who was shot by the police as she tried to enter the heavily protected Speaker’s Lobby, just outside the House chamber. The extremists could perceive that death as “an act of martyrdom,” according to the bulletin.
The Capitol breach, as well as conspiracy theories from QAnon, will likely inspire such extremists “to engage in more sporadic, lone-actor or small-cell violence against common” violent extremist “targets, including racial, ethnic, or religious minorities and institutions, law enforcement, and government officials and buildings,” according to the bulletin.
The federal officials also wrote that “the shared false narrative of a ‘stolen’ election,” the false claim perpetuated by President Trump, “may lead some individuals to adopt the belief that there is no political solution to address their grievances and violent action is necessary.”
The Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., and subsequent breach of the Capitol also offered an opportunity for militia members and extremists from different groups to meet, which could increase the extremists’ “willingness, capability, and motivation to attack and undermine a government they view as illegitimate.”
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wray is a dishonest turd.
where was all this during the violent riots in Portland? etc ?
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